Newest ‘Star Ocean’ Game, A Product Of A Different Time

The “Star Ocean” franchise is legendary among Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) fans, producing some of the most innovative gameplay, settings, and plots in its early days. Unfortunately, it seems the series has been unable to evolve and keep up with the times, judging by the newest addition to the franchise. “Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness” has been widely criticized for being stuck in a different time period despite launching on the “PlayStation 4,” and during what appears to be one of the greatest times for RPGs in gaming history.

As Kotaku reports, “Integrity and Faithlessness” is the fifth installment in the franchise. It takes place after “Second Story” but before “Till the End of Time.” Before even getting to some of the worst aspects of the title, Kotaku’s Jason Schreier noticed how the camera kept bobbing, even when the player doesn’t touch the directional stick. As a result of the involuntary camera movement, Schreier wrote that he felt nauseated while wandering around, and it seems others on YouTube felt the same way.

More than the camera problem, the story, characters, and graphics present an even bigger issue that Scott Craft over at iDigitalTimes found glaringly obvious. In terms of how the game looks, Craft compared screenshots of “Integrity” with that of “Xenoblade Chronicles X,” which came out on the “Wii U,” and the difference is almost insultingly tangible.

For a game that will be coming out for the “PS4,” which is arguably the most powerful video game console in the market prior to the release of the “NEO” and “Scorpio,” “Integrity” is underwhelming. More than that, the story involves the same elements that practically every single JRPG has ground to dust, from the amnesiac protagonist to the two kingdoms that have disliked each other for centuries.

Craft also pointed to the seven characters that players will get to control who all seem to be walking stereotypes; from the womanizer to the eye-candy. In the wake of games like “The Witcher 3,” “Skyrim,” “The Last of Us” and “Dishonored,” the bar for RPGs has gone up so high that half-baked fan service games like “Integrity” are no longer viable products.